


Adoration is poison in your veins

by AliaMael



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-22 19:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19980334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliaMael/pseuds/AliaMael
Summary: Why settle for scraps when you have the potential for more?





	1. LaCroix

**Author's Note:**

> Sounds familiar? Yep I'm back to an already written concept, but it has enough potential for this, imo ;) Hope you enjoy!

Stained by the blood of the Sheriff, standing proud, assured, the Fledgling looked like some god of war. LaCroix refused to visibly flinch, but he was starting to frantically reconsider his options. He had to persuade the Fledgling to help him. He needed to find what the Fledgling really wanted, and to find it _now_.

He didn't have time.

"Hello, _my Prince_ ," the Fledgling ironized. "Looks like you're awfully alone now, aren't you?"  
"Maybe you could remedy that," LaCroix tried. "I appear to be in dire need of a powerful assistant. If you'd join my cause, nothing could stop us in whatever we'd choose to pursue."

The Fledgling laughed.

"Oh, Sebastian," he cooed, "so cute to still think yourself in control…"

A blink, and the Fledgling was in front of LaCroix, close enough to touch. LaCroix wanted to step back, but the Fledgling caught his chin in a mocking gesture.

"Don't fear me, Sebastian," he whispered. "I'll never hurt you. I only want what's best for you."

LaCroix racked his brain for an appropriate answer. Somehow, the only thing he could think was that the Fledgling didn't seem hostile, all in all.

"Yes, that's it," the Fledgling went on. "It's alright. I've got you. It's been exhausting, am I right? Clutching power like that. Fighting to stay on top. Aren't you tired?"

The Fledgling was trying to _do something_ to him, that much was obvious, but… but he was right. Sebastian was tired. It would be nice to have someone friendly, someone who understood, someone he could trust.

"You don't need to fight anymore. I'm here. I'm going to make it better."

Sebastian believed him.

The Fledgling smiled.

"So much better…"

***

Asserting control over LaCroix had been laughably easy. For all the power he wielded, the Prince was _alone_. Alone and unstable, slowly slipping toward paranoia, delirium, nervous breakdown. All it had taken was a friendly reassurance and his distrust was already crumbling, because he _wanted_ so desperately to have an ally. Suggesting then that Strauss was plotting against him had almost been unnecessary. He was _craving_ any excuse to get closer to his sole friend. So he willingly drank his blood, "to protect himself from Strauss' probable future interference".

Now, getting Strauss to lower his guard would be another kind of challenge...


	2. Strauss

Strauss knew something was off. The Neonate had offered him the city with a smile, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was planning something.

For starters, Strauss had no idea about what had happened to LaCroix. He just… vanished. The Sheriff was dead, killed by the Neonate, but the former Prince was nowhere to be found, dead or alive.

Which could become a problem. Los Angeles, even without the influence of Ming Xiao, was still far too close to an explosion for his taste. He couldn't afford dealing with a contender coming back from who knows where.

For that matter, he didn't know where the Neonate was either. His haven was empty, but something told Strauss he hadn't left the region.

What was going on?

One week later, he had at least part of the answer. Several witnesses had seen LaCroix, in Santa Monica and Hollywood. Each time he had disappeared quickly, but he was definitely alive and plotting.

Then the Neonate came back.

He came to Strauss one night, looking tired and a bit angry.

"I lost him," he announced. "LaCroix, I mean. I don't know how he managed to escape me, but…" The Neonate shrugged. "I cannot do this alone. I need help."

Strauss considered it. It was true that the Neonate had been impressively resourceful so far, but at the same time he'd been ordered around by LaCroix for most of his short unlife. No wonder LaCroix was able to outmaneuver him.

"What kind of help do you seek?" Strauss inquired.  
"I… anything you could teach me, honestly. I'm at a loss and it seems to me that you'd have the means to get the job done if only you were not already dealing with a whole city...?"

The Neonate was very probably right. LaCroix, for all his experience with power, didn't have many things left from his crumbling empire. Meanwhile, Strauss was in a good situation, but could use more allies as fearless as the Neonate was. Most of his Tremere were no good at all with any hand-on approach of problems.

"I can't promise you anything more precise, but I'll find time to teach you," Strauss promised.  
"Thank you. It's a honor."

Strauss allowed a slight smile to show on his lips. The Neonate was so eager to make himself useful that it was hard not to take a liking to him.

***

Getting closer to Strauss and spending time with him was only the first step, but so far all was going smoothly. Now to engineer the three situations needed to create a full Blood Bond…

***

Actually, the first one was easy enough, what with knowing everything about Strauss movements and having LaCroix at disposal to set up traps. Strauss was gravely injured, the Neonate was the only one close enough to give him blood, and that were things that happened, hmm? And if Strauss was a bit upset, he couldn't blame the pooooor Neonate so worried for his mentor figure. So that was link one.

***

The second one was far more tricky. It ended up involving a chain of debts complex enough to give a headache to a mortal. But there was no mortal involved, and link two didn't even register to Strauss. After all, he was already a close friend to the Neonate by that point.

***

By the third one, the Neonate knew enough about how Tremere used their magic to know that they needed to ingest the blood they were testing. Nothing easier than substitute the blood from a supposed Sabbat goon with his own blood, and persuade Strauss that his personal expertise was needed.

Check mate.


	3. And then

Strauss stayed Prince. It was obviously for the best, in terms of appearances. But the Neonate was his oh so loyal friend, and was so _good_ at understanding political intricacies… And even if Strauss was jealous of LaCroix, who was so obviously enamored with the Neonate that the kind man didn't want to send him off, he had to admit that Los Angeles was much more peaceful, now that LaCroix was no longer defying them.

So all was for the best.

After all, why kill powerful Kindred when you can turn them into your _willing_ slaves?


End file.
